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 Resources
Laboratory Containment of Wild polioviruses
Once poliomyelitis is eradicated,
laboratories will be the only source of poliovirus. Therefore, safe handling
and appropriate containment of wild poliovirus infectious or potential wild
poliovirus infectious materials in the laboratories is crucial. The purpose
of laboratory containment of wild polioviruses is to minimize the risk of
reintroducing wild polioviruses from the laboratory to the community and the
related activities are conducted in three phases.
The Laboratory Survey and Inventory Phase
(Pre-Eradication phase ─ Phase1) covers the current period when the
number of polio-free countries and regions are increasing, but, wild
polioviruses continue to circulate somewhere in the world. During this phase,
the Member States are required to
Survey all biomedical laboratories to identify
those laboratories that are storing wild poliovirus infectious materials or
potential wild poliovirus infectious materials and encourage the destruction
of all unneeded materials.
Make an inventory of laboratories including
polio vaccine manufacturers, that retain such materials and submit a report
to the International Certification Commission for Polio Eradication (ICCPE) –
SEARO
Instruct laboratories retaining wild
poliovirus infectious materials or potential wild poliovirus materials to
institute enhanced bio-safety level-2 (BSL-2/Polio) procedures for safe
handling. One year after the last wild poliovirus is identified anywhere in
the world, these laboratories will have to either implement bio-safety
procedures appropriate for laboratory risks (BSL-2/Polio, BSL-3/Polio),
transfer the materials to a repository that meets WHO bio-safety requirements
or destroy the materials.
Plan for global certification phase (phase II)
which begins when one year has elapsed without the isolation of wild
poliovirus anywhere in the world.
As stated at the third
meeting of the Global Certification Commission in 2003, the “Laboratory
Survey” and “Inventory and Global Certification” phases of containment must
be completed worldwide before global certification can be considered.
Post global certification phase (phase III)
refers to a time after global certification when the world stops routine use
of oral polio vaccine (OPV).
Status
Regional guidelines for
laboratory containment of wild poliovirus have been developed. All member
states (except Timor Leste) have formed a National
Containment Task Force and have developed a plan of action (including a
time-line and budget); the plans are being implemented in all countries. Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar, Thailand and DPR Korea have
completed the inventory process and quality assessment of the containment
activities and are preparing the final report for submission to the
ICCPE-SEAR. Two regional containment meetings have already been held (in
February 2002 and October 2003 in Colombo, Sri Lanka); the third regional
meeting is scheduled for 10 August 04.
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